She isn't happy, she isn't content, and she certain isn't marrying Daniel Fellows. But how can Molly Prewett convince her parents to allow her to follow her own heart, especially when the man its chosen is just a shy boy from Hogwarts?

A/N Ok, at least half of this was written in the middle of the night, in the freezing cold, in a tent, with people snoring around me and I wasn’t feeling well so forgive me if it’s rubbish. I hope you enjoy it anyway!! :) :)

Chapter 2: The Dark Haired Stranger

She awoke the next morning, the sun shining through the curtains, lighting the whole room in a yellow glow. Her first thoughts awake were of him. The boy. She wasn’t sure whether it was a dream or not but whatever it was she didn’t care. He was amazing either way. A smile crept onto her face as she thought of him and her together. She closed her eyes and pictured them dancing. Dancing in the light of the moon by the Seine, their arms wrapped around each other, guarding one another from harm. Molly sighed. That would never happen. Why would it?

A sudden knock at her door awoke her from her thoughts.

“Molly dear, your father and I are just going down to breakfast,” her mother called, “Would you care to join us? We have some exciting news.”

“I’ll be down in a minute,” she shouted back. Oh no, she thought, they’ve probably decided on her bridegroom.

After a few moments she jumped out of bed rather clumsily and quickly got dressed. She better get this over with. She threw on a deep purple gown and tied her hair hastily on top of her head in a bun. She washed her face, put on her jewellery and made her way down stairs, tripping slightly over the bottom of her dress as she went. The hotel was silent apart from the snake-like receptionist yapping away on the phone, sounding completely unrelated to her work, even though Molly spoke hardly any French.

Her parents were sitting at a table at the far side of the room, plates of food piled up in front of them. As she approached, she heard them talking in hushed voices, too quiet for Molly to make out, but she knew it was about her.

“Morning,” she said, a lot more loudly than she meant, “You said you had some news.”

Her mother turned, plastering her big, fake, white smile upon her face. “We think we have made our decision.” her mother beamed.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Molly asked weakly.

Her mother ignored her.

“You’ll love him, I know I do. Hair as dark as a raven and eyes as brown as chocolate. Just like yours.” She added.

Molly scrunched up her face in disgust. Her mother continued, “He’ll be perfect for you, darling, and he’s so rich. Who could ask for more? If he was my age, I would certainly marry him.” This received a look from her father.

“Mother, can’t I marry who I want to marry. Not some random stranger who you think I should marry just because he’s rich and has nice hair! I want to marry who I love.”

“And who might that be, darling?” her mother asked, eyebrows raised.

“I- I.... well I...err... I don’t really know. I mean I haven’t found him yet.” she said, “But I will.” Molly thought about the boy she saw last night. But surly that wasn’t love. She hadn’t even spoken to him. But there was something about him. Something strange and intriguing. She wanted to find out more about this mysterious boy.

“Excuse me, but I really have to go.” she said to her parents, grabbing a piece of toast and turning to leave. Her parents looked appalled at her manors.

Just as she started waking away, her father said, “Oh and Molly, there’s a ball tonight and you will be attending with Daniel Fellows. Don’t worry, you’ll get to meet him beforehand.”

Molly looked at him, confused, “Who’s Daniel Fellows?”

“Daniel, he’s your fiancé of course. Didn’t we tell you his name?”

Molly shrugged, “You might have and I just wasn’t listening.”

Her mother gasped. Her father looked horrified and said, “Molly Prewett, don’t you dare shrug your shoulders at us and please, for goodness sake, pay attention.”

“Yes father.” she sighed, backing away slowly, “Goodbye.”

*******

Sitting in her room, her head in her hands, she refused to cry. She hated it, it always made her feel weak. Although, she was once told that people who cry are not weak, they have just be strong for too long. Maybe she had.

Why was her life so controlled? She just wanted to be free. The feeling of being locked up all the time was unbearable. No matter how hard she tried or who she escaped, she could never escape herself. It’s like she was under lock and key and only her parents could let her out but they never would. And when she marries, her husband- Daniel - will have access to the key as well. God, her life was hell. Was there anyway out?

Yes, a small voice in her head whispered, yes, you can do it Molly. Just believe you can.

Molly sighed. Should she believe it? Should she believe her heart or her mind?

Well whatever, looks like she would still have to marry that Daniel Fellows.

Molly, not knowing how long for, it could have been minutes, it could have been hours, it could have perhaps been several days, but she lay there, not even thinking, just staring blankly up at the high ceiling. Another sudden knock awoke her. This time it was her father. He opened the door, peeking his head around before entering.

“Molly, dear, it’s time for you to get ready. You have to go and meet Daniel.”

“What if I don’t want to?” she retorted, “What if I don’t want to marry him?”

“Moll, you haven’t even given him a chance. You might actually like him.”

Molly shook her head, knowing full well that she would never like a man her parents had picked out for her to marry.

“Well, you might as well meet him. What do you say?”

“Ok,” she mumbled, “When am I supposed to be seeing him?”

Her father glanced at his watch, “In half an hour. He’ll be coming here to pick you up and then he’ll take you for a walk along the Seine. Quickly, you better get ready.”

He left without another word and Molly was left alone, again, with her own annoying thoughts.

She got up soon after, brushed her hair, tying it into a much neater bun than before and changed her shoes to ones that matched her long, purple gown.

After checking herself over in the mirror, she rushed down the stairs, already ten minutes late. She got to the reception and saw a group of three standing by the door. Two were her parents, the other was a tall, dark haired, brown eyed stranger. Molly’s heart stopped. That was him. That was the man she was to marry.

He turned, looking her straight in the eye. His gaze was not cold, but was not warm either. Molly knew, without even talking to the man that she wasn’t going to like him. Everything about him was....wrong. His hair, his eyes, his hands, his face. Everything. It just made her feel cold inside. Cold and slightly afraid.

He walked over to her, a smile upon his face but this smile was not friendly. He got to her, reaching for her hand and brushed his lips gently against her skin, his eyes never leaving her face. His lips were cold, his face was pale and his eyes were stony. He still had a smirk playing on his lips and all she wanted to do was slap it off his pathetic excuse for a face.

“Shall we go?” he asked. His voice was posh and proud and Molly hated it.

She nodded, not meeting his gaze. He extended an arm and she reluctantly took it, glancing back over her shoulder at her parents, both of whom where standing, looking nervous with a hint of excitement. Well they have something to be happy about, she thought, it’s not them that have to be married to this prat!

They stepped outside, welcomed by the cool summer air, and started to walk along the Seine. They walked in silence for awhile, feeling awkward in each others company until Daniel broke the silence.

“I’m sorry.” he said.

Molly looked at him, surprised. “What do you mean?”

“I’m sorry for the way I acted. I’m like that. I act like a posh, stuck-up cold man when I first meet someone. I’m not like that very often. Well....” his voice faded away. There was something very strange about this man, like he’s hiding something.

“Well?” Molly asked, “What?”

Daniel only smiled. “Nothing.”

They fell back into silence. Molly’s mind was buzzing. What on earth was this guy’s problem?

“Your parents, they seem...nice.” he said after awhile.

Molly tried to smile, “Yeah, they are.” Yeah, they’re so nice that they’re making their only daughter marry a prat like this she thought bitterly.

“Are you looking forward to tonight?” he asked causally.

“Tonight?” she asked, suddenly alarmed.

“You know, the ball.”

Molly relaxed, “Oh yeah, should be fun. Do you like The Weird Si-” She stopped. A thought had just hit her. Was this man a muggle or a wizard? Why hadn’t she asked her parents? She better not let anything slip!

“Pardon?” he asked, clearly confused.

“Err... I said do you like weird people?”

“Weird people? Why do you ask?” he asked.

“I- I err- well I like them and I wondered if you did too. I’m one of them.”

“Well in that case, I do like them, because I like you.” he said softly. Molly almost smiled. “That’s sweet of you,” she said as she felt her cheeks burn up.

Maybe this man wasn’t totally creepy after all. But why did he act that way in the hotel? Was he hiding something?

“Do you mind if we sit here for awhile?” he asked, breaking Molly from her thoughts.

She looked around to where he was pointing. An empty bench sat there, the brown pant peeling off and a name plate, too faded for Molly to make out, sat rusted and forgotten on the back of the bench. She nodded and they moved towards it and sat down.

A gentle breeze blew, causing Molly’s hair to waft gently behind her and the sleeves of her deep purple gown to blow as she ran her hands through her auburn hair.

“Have you got any siblings?” He asked, although he sounded as if he already knew the answer.

she thought to herself, not daring to say it out loud. “Your brothers, are they here in Paris with you?”

“No, they wanted to stay at home. Preparing for the war they say. Don’t think they are though.” she said. Although Molly loved her brothers dearly, she didn’t think they were the type to stay as home preparing for a war that might not start for years.

“What war?” he asked, confused.

Molly kicked herself. Why had she said that? This man was clearly a muggle. Why on earth would her parents pick out a muggle? They were so proud of being pure-bloods.

“Oh, they -err- they think there’s going to be a world war 3. Nonsense, I know.”

“How old are they? Have the left school yet?”

“Yes, Gideon is twenty-four and Fabian is nineteen.” she replied.

“I see.” he said, distant once again.

They sat in silence for another minute or so before he said, “Do you want to marry me?”

Molly was taken aback. What should she say? ’No of course not. You’re a total idiot and I would never even consider marrying you if it was up to me.’ No, maybe not, that sounded too mean. So she said, “Well, I don’t really know you, so I’m not sure.”

“Well, I want to marry you.” he said. He was making her so uncomfortable.

“Th-that’s nice of you.”

“Yes it is nice of me. I’m always nice. I can’t understand why you wouldn’t want to marry me.” he said, irritating Molly.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to.” she said quietly, but he ignored her.

“My mother always said I was her perfect son and all the girls would be bowing at my feet when I was older. Most of them are.”

Molly jumped up, anger rising inside of her. “What’s your problem? I meet you in the hotel and you’re all cold and proud. And then we walk along here and you say you’re sorry and that you’re only like that when you first meet someone but you‘re usually nice,” Molly’s voice started to rise, “and now you’re being like- like...this.” she said. People were staring at the couple, one of whom was sitting on the bench, a calm expression on his face as the other stood towering above him, shouting. And then she walked off, just like that, without another word. He watched her retreating back as she walked briskly away from him, anger boiling up inside of her.

No way would she marry someone like that.

Not now, not ever.

A/N Sorry if this chapter’s a little boring, I just wanted to introduce you to Daniel. This and chapter 3 were actually going to be one chapter but I wrote this and thought it would be too long since I was only on the second bullet point of my plan and had about ten points all together and a huge ending all worked out. So I hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you think, reviews always help me get the next chapter written. I always liked to be told what I can improve on and what I did good. But please don’t be mean, I’m just writing this for fun so who cares if there’s some mistakes! Thanks xx :)